+ General understanding of programming principles(self taught the basics of C++ - made a functioning calculator and "guess the number" game..)

+ Excellent familiarity with Microsoft Office and general computer skills(though by no means a qualified or even experienced computer technician, I am as au fait as 8 hours a day at my laptop can get me)

+ 24 years of being distracted by daydreams

+ Professional experience in teamwork and team leading within a civil service post

Interests:

= Fantasy/ Science Fiction/ New Weird/ Cyberpunk

= World building(map design, location description and detailing, a fascination for weird architecture and nature's more bizarre creations)

= Tabletop RPGs(avid Dungeons and Dragons DM, currently working on the lore and game mechanics for an original tabletop RPG with another writer and an artist. So far it's just a hobby, but serious thought and efforts are planned.)

= Modding(specifically an old Sierra game called "Empire Earth", I redesign the game textures (.SST, .TGA) and swap model files (.CEM) for my own designs)

Thursday, 12 June 2014

Technical Challenges

As soon as I decided to make my own sprites, and make them larger than the squat, RTP ones, I began to notice problems. RPG Maker has an overlay layer function (star, for the initiated), which allows certain tiles to appear 'above' the character. The effect is the ability for the sprites to pass behind things, but taller sprites interfere with these special tiles:

The problem is not insurmountable, of course, but it does necessitate special planning when it comes to designing maps and backgrounds.